Respond
by Amy2k
Summary: Severus Snape is studying muggle medicine in hope to gain information, which will help him improve his own healing potions. He find’s the strangest boy while visiting a muggle doctor. The boy seems so familiar, but from where does he recognise him?
1. Chapter 1 Nameless

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable setting or character in this story. All Harry Potter™ characters belong to JKR Rowling and various publishers which all aren't me. Please don't sue me!

**Author:** Amy2k

**Title:** Respond

**Summary: **Severus Snape is studying muggle medicine in hope to gain information, which will help him improve his own healing potions. He find's the strangest boy while visiting a muggle doctor. The boy seems so familiar, but from where does he recognise him?

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**Chapter 1**

Dr Michael Scott was tired. His fourteen-hour shift had ended two and a half hours ago but he couldn't go home. Not yet anyway. Dr Scott was on his way to the paediatrics ward once again; he had received a message on his work pager informing him that his newest patient was beginning to wake up.

Walking into the hospital elevator he pulled out his patient's notes. His new patient was by all means a mystery, a young boy no older than 5 years, found unconscious by an early morning jogger, four days ago. No one knew the identity of the child, as no one had filed a missing persons record, or of how he came to be found just outside Surrey so early in the morning. Dr Scott skimmed though his notes reminding himself of his patient's details and injuries. The injuries in themselves were unusual for apart from a few scratches and bruises the child had seemed relatively unharmed. A later inspection had revealed signs of a blow to the head, which was likely the cause of the child's coma-like state. The child was also severely underweight, showing signs of malnutrition. But apart from the diagnosis report and other physical details, such as blood type, there were many blank spaces under 'Patient Details'. He sighed. With any luck, Dr Scott thought, the child will be able to give me some more information. It seems wrong to call the child just that, the child and even worse, the unconscious child.

He was draw out of his reverie when the elevator glided to a stop at the 3rd floor. He felt the familiar lurch in his stomach and a bell sounded as the elevator door slid open. Dr Scott stepped out into the corridor and strode over to the paediatric ward doors.

A nurse, nurse Williams, he remembered, greeted him at the nurse's station. She was a young, petite woman and a friend of his daughter's.

"Ah Grace," he greeted her. "How our young patient?" the blonde woman smiled widely at him and gestured for him to follow her towards the private room in which the young boy was being kept.

"He's been drifting in and out of consciousness for about 15 minutes. His heart rate and blood pressure are normal and he's also been given some more fluids. He's got a slight temperature but nothing serious." She led him into the small darkened room, where the figure of a small boy could be seen stirring slightly on the verge of consciousness. "I'm so glad the poor mite is coming around. I was beginning to get really worried. His parents must be in an awful state." She placed her hand on the boy's forehead once again checking his temperature. She brushed away a few strands of hair from his still closed eyes and smiled sympathetically.

"Let me take a look at him," Grace stepped away from the bed as Dr Scott approached his patient. Holding out his stethoscope he checked the boy's breathing and heartbeat. With a short intake of breath, the boy's eyes fluttered open revealing amazingly bright green eyes. He blinked wildly at his unfamiliar surroundings before focusing on the person in front of him.

"Hello there," Dr Scott said softly so as not to frighten the young boy, "my name is Michael. I'm a doctor and I'm here to help you," the boy just blinked again. Unsure of whether the boy had heard or not Dr Scot continued to reassure him. "You are in the hospital and we're going to make you better." Still nothing. "Can you tell us your name?" the boy did not respond nor did he give any sign of having heard the doctor speak. Instead he slowly shut his eyes again letting sleep claim him for the first time in four days.

Grace looked worried as the boy lay still in his bed once again. "Has he lost consciousness again?" she asked.

"No, he is sleeping naturally thankfully. It's normal that he should feel so tired. He'll probably sleep for a while." Dr Scott rose from his position crouched at the boy's bedside. "Please inform me when he wakes again and if he says anything, we really need to contact the boy's family…" he suddenly remembered how tired he was. He stood and pushed a hand through his light brown hair. Leaving the room he failed to stifle a yawn. It has most definitely been a long day he thought.

"Yes doctor." Grace replied as doctor Scott left for the night, or rather morning. She walked over to the child's bed and smoothed the covers as she had been doing ever since he was brought to the ward. "Wake up soon little one," she whispered as she too left the room.

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(A/N) Sorry it's so short. It just seemed a good place to stop. Please tell me what you think. The chapters will hopefully move along a lot quicker after this one, as this one is an introduction of sorts. Please Review!

Amy2k


	2. Chapter 2 Failed Experiments

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any recognizable setting or character in this story. All Harry Potter™ characters belong to JKR Rowling and various publishers which all aren't me. Please don't sue me!

**Author:** Amy2k

**Title:** Respond

**Summary: **Severus Snape is studying muggle medicine in hope to gain information, which will help him improve his own healing potions. He find's the strangest boy whilst visiting a muggle doctor. The boy seems so familiar, but from where does he recognise him?

* * *

Chapter 2 

It wasn't until early afternoon the next day that the young boy, with no name, awoke again. Grace was doing her rounds in the paediatric ward, checking every child's condition and vital statistics. Grace loved her job, caring for children was her life. She cared for each and every child in the ward as if they were her own flesh and blood. She became overwhelmed with joy each time one of her children made a complete recovery and cried bitterly at the injustice of losing one. The fair-haired woman adjusted the last patient of the ward's monitor and after a short series of beeps left to check on her newest child. She looked surprised when she entered the private room aside from the main ward, and found a pair of brilliant green eyes watching her intently. She smiled upon seeing the small dark-haired child awake and sitting up in bed.

"Hello again," she greeted. "Did you have a nice sleep?" Grace walked up to the child's heart monitor and after checking that everything was in order, turned to look at the small child. She crouched down in the same way that Dr Scott had done the night before.

"I'm Grace, I'm going to look after you. What's your name?" the small boy made no response much like the night before.

"Can you tell me your mummy and daddy's names?" Grace sighed when the child again did not answer. _Poor thing_, she thought, _he's probably in shock. He's confused_. She tried again.

"Okay, maybe I can guess you're name…" Grace closed her eyes as if in deep thought. "Hmm…" the small boy watched her intently, a stoic expression gracing his young features, neither acknowledging what the woman by his bedside was saying nor ignoring her. "Is it… Jack? No? Uh… how about Alex? Mark? Adam? James?" she missed the small flicker of a recognition in the boy's eyes. "You know, it would be much easier if you'd just tell me," Grace sighed softly when she saw that she would get no response out of the small boy. In fact he was no longer even looking at the fair-haired nurse but was once more staring straight ahead, focussing on nothing in particular. Grace was worried, never in all her time as a nurse had one of her children been so unresponsive. She was lost at what to do. Even children younger than the one who presently sat before her could be coaxed into a conversation once Grace had introduced herself.

Grace shifted her position at the boy's beside. "We really need to speak to your mummy and daddy. If you tell me your name I can get them for you." She told the child. "You do want to see them again don't you?" ash asked, trying a different approach. Nevertheless, the child remained silent a blank expression adorning his young features. Grace sighed once more as she stood up. She looked at the boy as if trying to determine his thoughts and feelings by merely staring. She snapped out of her thoughtful reverie when one of her colleagues knocked on the, slightly ajar, private room door.

"Nurse Williams. You are needed in ward C," her fellow nurse announced curtly before leaving immediately, before Grace could even acknowledge her. Grace nodded none the less.

"I've got to go now, but I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." She told the small boy, brushing a few strands of his hair away from his eyes, revealing a strange, faded lighting bolt scar on his forehead. She smiled sadly upon receiving no response once again and left the private room to see to her other duties.

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"Confound it all to hell!" A long stream of expletives could be heard reverberating down one of the corridors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, just near the entrance to the castle's dungeons. Although it was early June, and fairly warm in the remotest parts of Scotland, the summer's warmth failed to reach the lower parts of the school. The dungeon's only resident, however, would have found even more reason to cuss had the heat, by the smallest possibility, found a way into his dark and bitterly cold quarters.

Severus Snape, Potions Master and Professor at Hogwarts, was angry. He grumbled irately as he cleared away the mess caused by his third failed experiment that day. With a small flick of his wand the mess vanished instantaneously, leaving no trace of the explosion, which had occurred seconds earlier. Deciding to refer back to his research, Severus Snape left his laboratory and retired to his quarter's library.

The professor fell heavily into a straight-backed chair behind his desk and reached for his extensive research on the properties of several rare and dangerous potion ingredients. Severus Snape was working to create a special line of healing potions and topical healing salves which contained no magical properties. The purpose of these 'magic-free' healing solutions was, for those with allergies to certain magical properties in the ingredients used in typical healing potions, to be cured of any aliments they might just so happen to receive. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, had spoken of her difficulties in curing some of her students with allergies and had asked Severus if he could possibly create a remedy. Expecting the potions master to create some excuse not to waste his time on such a pointless exercise in tedium, she was pleasantly surprised which he readily accepted the task.

Unknown to most, if not all of his colleagues, Severus Snape held a certain fascination of Muggle medicine. He was amazed that Muggles could heal themselves so sufficiently without the aid of magic. And although he held no particular fondness towards Muggles as someone like Arthur Weasley did, he couldn't help but respect the way they effectively coped without magic. The task of creating healing remedies without magical properties was so similar to the way Muggles created their medicines that the potions master was eager to understand and emulate their methods.

Severus Snape read over his notes, written neatly and precisely on the faded yellow parchment. His notes included information on all the non-magical potions ingredients, which contained healing properties. However the professor had found out after several unsuccessful experiments that combining said ingredients either left the potion ineffective or resulted in an unpleasantly messy explosion.

Annoyed to no end at his failed attempts to create a non-magical healing potion, Severus Snape decided to try a different approach. Reaching for a fresh piece of parchment as well as an elegant-looking quill, he carefully wrote a letter to an acquaintance of his, Michael Scott, a squib doctor who worked in a Muggle hospital in England. If anyone could help the potions master with his research he was sure that Dr Scott could. After signing the letter asking Dr Scott if he could visit the Muggle hospital to aid his research he folded it and headed for the owlery intent on delivering his letter as soon as possible. With any luck, the professor thought, I'll be able to learn a great deal about Muggle medicines.

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(A/N) I'm glad that you liked the first chapter! Please tell me what you think of this chapter. I'm very conscious of it being rubbish. If there's anything you don't like, please tell me and I'll try to fix it. Do you think Sev should meet the 'strange child' in the next chapter? Or should I leave their meeting until later? Please review!

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews for chapter 1:

Ashe Crow

Spacecatdet

Localfreak

Dragonero

Wolfawaken

Kateri1

Sevti Rune

ShadowedHand

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Emma

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